Top cyclists support Play on Pedals

Play on Pedals has received support from two of Scotland's cycling heroes - triple Paralympic Gold medal winner Aileen McGlynn OBE, who recently scooped two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, and James McCallum, who won bronze in Melbourne in 2006.

The two Scottish cyclists are now official ambassadors for Play on Pedals, a project which aims to get pre-school children across Glasgow cycling before they start school.

It is a partnership between CTC and Cycling Scotland, The Bike Station Glasgow and Play Scotland. Play on Pedals was one of the winners of the 2014 People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund, securing just over £231,000 in funding from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Play on Pedals is ensuring that children across Glasgow are learning a skill that will stay with them for life, allowing the next generation to enjoy the freedom, fun and adventure that cycling provides.”

James McCallum Commenwealth Games bronze medallist

Both ambassadors joined the Play on Pedals team at the Indigo nursery in Castlemilk, south Glasgow, to meet children involved in the training programme and to launch the new 2015 Dream Fund award. They also met representatives from two of the pilot organisations that Play on Pedals is working with – Greg Cann, Sports Legacy Coordinator for North Glasgow Homes and John Harkins, NHS Health Improvement Team in the south of the city.

Aileen McGlynn said, “Projects such as Play on Pedals play a vital role in the lasting legacy of the Commonwealth and Olympic Games”.

Working with 50 Hero Organisations Play on Pedals will ensure all 7,500 four year olds in Glasgow have the chance to learn to ride a bike before they start school. The project will deliver a training programme to 500 volunteer Instructors and 500 volunteer Mechanics. It will distribute a fleet of bikes across the city and enable bike swaps and local community events to take place. Play on Pedals will culminate in a huge celebratory family ride across the city in the summer of 2015.